April 6 – Two tornadoes strike Gainesville, Georgia. The smaller tornado hits north Gainesville, the stronger tornado the west side of town; 203 die and 1,600 are injured, in the 5th deadliest tornado in U.S. history.

August 1 – The 1936 Summer Olympics open in Berlin, Germany, and mark the first live television coverage of a sports event in world history (John Logie Baird had previously broadcast the Derby horse race in Britain in 1931).